Imbolc is a perfect example of how holidays, along with gods and goddesses evolve over time. Last year, February 1, 2023, St. Brigid’s Day was made a national holiday in Ireland. That the holiday likely originated in the veneration of a pagan goddess, also named Brigid is lost on no one. Naming the holiday after […]
A new beginning: Imbolc in the witch’s garden
Imbolc was the time in the Irish calendar when you’re hoping the sheep do what sheep do best, and that there are little lambs gestating in woolly bellies. It’s a time for celebration, for spring has begun in the pagan world, and it’s time to start working with nature to ensure the harvest. Because that […]
Rattling the Bones: Digging into the psyche for ancestral memories of Brigid on Imbolc
We put the F in JFK I didn’t have to go very far back to find the name Fitzgerald in my family closet. It’s Irish, I knew that. Luckily, Fitzgerald is one of those families which has been extensively traced. We put the F in John F. Kennedy after all. The Fitzgeralds story started with […]
Season of the Witch: Exploring the folklore, facts and fiction of witchcraft through the ages
Season of the Witch: Featured Articles on Witchcraft
A search for my ancestors’ beliefs about witches and witchcraft in the witch hunts of county Kent, England
Elizabeth Anna Halke married John Bull II on October 30, 1620 in Brabourne, county of Kent, England. John was twenty years old, Elizabeth was a few days shy of sixteen. They were eight generations of my grandparents ago. Elizabeth was a popular name at the time. Our Elizabeth was named after her mother, and it turns […]
Looking for the history of witches in Southern Illinois in the folklore of those who feared them
I first approached researching Southern Illinois witches the way I would any subject … by getting to know the people. Where I made my mistake was trying to focus on the witches. A mistake, but because the witches were lost in the world of folklore. Who defined a witch here, as in most places, was […]
